Suddenly a flash of octarine light flew up the tower from where the projectile landed. A few seconds later the sun went out. Not very odd, as the city was very busy nowadays and the sun often had to take a rest.In the highG-pitch black sounds seemed magnified. "Bugger!" came a cry which seemed to echo. In fact, it was then followed by two different dialogues that vaguely hinted at Watch involvement.A moment later a series of disembodied thuds crossed the university grounds, followed by further swearing. After forty wink, the lights came back on. The grounds were deserted, but the ground around the door was scuffed.

Smilies are friends, not food. ..............Now You See It, Now You Don't..............Proud Copper Widow

A casual observer - who would have been very rare in that area of the city when the sun had just flickered out for a few seconds - in the University courtyard may have noticed the person missing from the doorstep that had been there a second before, after of which they wouldn't be very casual anyway. Closer observation, however, would have yielded the top of a bow poking out of the bush next to the door.Skylux climbed out of the undergrowth uneasily, snagging his cloak on a branch and looking up at the sun. He groaned and clenched his teeth. Suns didn't go out just like that. Suns were balls of gas millions of miles wide. They worked by hydrogen fusion and... No, it must work like that here too. It just wasn't possible. Perhaps it was a cloud. Yes, a cloud.Having found a plausible explanation, his brain settled into a lower gear and he glanced at the door. A pair of Watch uniforms whipped inside and it slammed again. He stared at it grumpily, and turned around to find a rather scrawny-looking wizard wander in through the front gate, holding a bunch of bananas as if they were library cards. On second thoughts..."Excuse me," Skylux asked, sticking his arm out in a reasonable imitation of a wave. "Do you think you could let me in?"The wizard stared at him."Why?" Reasonable question. Skylux tried to smile, but he wasn't really used to the action and ended up with a grimace."I'm applying for an apprenticeship. At least, I will be." Oops. Honesty ruins the best truth once again. He tried again. "And I don't want to just walk in."Whoever had gone in while the sun had been on the blink had plainly been careless, and left it unlocked. The wizard pushed it open and they both slipped into the main hall."Who are you, anyway?""The Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geography."

She walked out the door without much enthusiasm, said hello to her friend and made an appointment to get together at the end of the shift. A little annoyed, she kept walking along her street looking for a diversion to make her day interesting, or she could really go mad. She hated early morning shift, she much more enjoyed the night...She was turning a corner when she heard a rumour of something that was shot near the university."even the wizards are having more fun than me, now that's justice for you!!" she thought to herself, and didn't give it too much attention. She dedicated more or less 10 seconds to think of whether it could be a Watch-involving-situation or not, than she looked high to see any sign of copper-alarms and not finding them she just shrugged and went on her way.She kept walking for what seemed to her to be ages, then she heard a suffocated yell and started running. She was running in the wrong direction of the city-part assigned to her, but a cry like that was something that called for Watch attention, so she went anyway, asking herself whose part was it coming from. She stopped only when she saw a young man, bent over the dead body of a much older guy. When he saw her, terror in his face, he tried to run away, but she grabbed him and hold him with strength. <Did you kill him?> she asked him. His face went even paler.<Killed?> asked him, as if this was an odd question. <how do you know he's dead? I mean, there's blood and he's not moving but he could still be alive, we could save him><No we can't, and his heart isn't beating. Now let's make it simple. You tell me why did you kill this man and I'll be very nice while I'll be dragging you to one of our cells>

While Sally had gone to continue her patrol, cheery had found it as her duty to help the clearing up. The place was a mess. The door had flown straight through the middle of the drum with such a force that it had knocked over various tables and chairs, resulting in glass sherds, a floor soaked in alcohol and lots of wood splinters. Then some smart individual had chosen the moment to throw a bottle.And from that point on there was no stopping the nature of a tavern full of Ankh-Morporkians. Cheery was just fishing a half-broken bottle out of a puddle of gods-know-what, which had once been someone's meal, as Constable Haddock burst in, wheezing like a dog with pneumonia.Cheery chucked the bottle into an overflowing bin and looked up. "What's the problem?", she asked. There was no sense in asking 'Is there a problem?'. If a copper started running, there was always a problem."Sun went out... Old Stoneface... Unseen University... you", he managed."What? The sun...?" Cheery raced out of the door, into utter black darkness.Then she whirled around and headed for the university.

Skylux had been hoping for a quiet entrance - have a look around at the splendour, insinuate himself inconspicuously into the bustle of the university, and so forth - but reality is rarely so predictable. No sooner had he entered the hall when a large, red, and indeterminately rotund person knocked him and the rather scrawny wizard clean over. The doors opened hurriedly upon the figure's approach, and - if he was seeing things as they actually were - seemed to stand to attention. Skylux stood up with a small groan and watched the procession of senior wizards in the person's wake."Who was that?" he asked the wizard, who was wearing the expression of someone who's just had someone else's life flash past their eyes."Archchancellor Ridcully, idiot," the wizard replied grumpily. "Where've you been? Most important magical leader in the city, he is."Where have I been, Skylux thought carefully. I was hoping nobody would get round to that question quite yet."Um, you wouldn't believe me. Or, rather, you wouldn't want to believe me.""Fine," came the reply of someone who's heard it all before. They watched from the safety of the hall as the Archchancellor addressed the small crowd gathered at the foot of the stairs."...No, no. I assure you, it was just a - no sir, it really is temporary. Why? It'll just be for a few seconds - an accident, you know. You can't put the sun out for long; You'll make someone upset...""People get a bit touchy about things like that, then?" Skylux asked with heavily veiled sarcasm. "Sun going out, eldritch things crashing into the university grounds, that sort of thing?""Oh no," the wizard said, a master of sarcasm in his own right.

"Blast! It's grune today. Whodunit could have snuck a pie into the restart button. The moons gone off and left us all standing. Your'e in the dark, me lad. And dont' forget it""I don't think he's working anymore." said Ponder. "THe shock must have...""ook?""No, I don't think so. There's a lot of power in that button; he could have a concussion.""ook.""Um.. No. That's the self-destruct button.""ook?""and that's the Necrotelecomnicon"

A drift of noise wafted over. It sounded like staffs stampeding. Although the term stampede might need to be redefined to cope with the sight that met the small child with a large broom sweeping the floor, or rather chasing the dust over the floor.

Smilies are friends, not food. ..............Now You See It, Now You Don't..............Proud Copper Widow

Outside the university gates, the Watch was assembling.Cheery could only make out the shapes in the distance, but as she drew nearer, she could make out the tall silhouette of Captain Carrot, next to the shape that she, without a doubt identified with Nobby Nobbs. She couldn't see Commander Vimes, but the shouting indicated that he had been there for a while."... so you'll have to take your teeth home in a bloody bag and you won't be able to do that, because you won't have any damned arms to carry them home with you! Now open the damned gate!"He glared at the guard who'd poked his head over the wall next to the gate. The man clearly hadn't been payd to think and the fact that he was up here and Vimes was down there didn't make the matter worth thinking about anyway. "I got me orders", he said."What's the problem, sir?" Cheery asked as she arrived by the group."Where the hell have you been, Sergeant?", he demanded. "I gave the order almost half an hour ago!""Well, Sir, there was some trouble over at the Drum, see and..."But Cheery couldn't finish the sentence. There was a thump and then a scream from inside the university. Someone was swearing."What was that?", she heard corporal Nobbs saying."Sounded like someone dropping something very heavy on someone else's foot.""Well, how did you know that, sir?""Lucky guess.""Or maybe it was because someone said: 'Oh, ssssod my bloody foot'""Yes, thank you for your opinion, Sergeant Angua."Nobby stared. "Hey! Where did you come from?"Vimes coughed. "Lads, let's stop the smalltalk and get to work, shall we? I think I can see Detritus over there. I'm afraid we'll have to use the peacemaker."

(just an info: I've edited the end a bit. It was a bit cut off because I had to finish it very quickly )

The gates crashed open and the Watch, predictably, managed to barge in at exactly the worst time, releasing a tidal wave of angry and afraid citizens into the university grounds like a swarm of vengeful hornets. Skylux peered around the door frame as Ridcully addressed the increasingly anxious crowds in the dim light of the university windows. Fighting his way up to the steps, the leader of the Watch - to which Rincewind quickly attributed the name 'Vimes' - confronted the Archchancellor. A few similarly attired watch-people stood in his wake."What's all this, th - " he began, before checking his stereotypes."What's going on here, then?" he amended, glaring at Ridcully with renewed righteousness. "You can't just put the sun out, Archchancellor! With all due respect for wizardly affairs and processes, put the damn thing back right now before I find an excuse to use my exquisitely carved and rather useless-looking truncheon."It was obviously an threat that was emptier than a heretic's temple. They both knew that. Skylux knew that. Even the people in the crowd, who wouldn't have been able to hear anyway, seemed to understand the general gist, and knew it. Nevertheless, Ridcully bristled."I might remind you, Commander, that here at the UU we are, to a certain degree, above the law. Not to mention the trouble you'd get in by laying a single splinter on any of our faculty. Anyway, I haven't a clue what's happened myself," he paused. "Someone get Doctor Hix. And where's the bloody Bursar? Rincewind!"The scrawny wizard who had let Skylux in shuffled up to the Archchancellor, who managed to inconveniently spot the boy in his shadow."Who're you?" he barked, with the sound of someone who wants to keep shouting simply to show that they're doing something useful. Which shouting isn't."Oh, me?" Skylux said, panicking slightly and flicking his mind into the rather rusty 'conversation' gear. "Don't mind me. I'm a bystander.""Alright then. Both of you, fetch the Bursar and Doctor Hix."

It was far too early for smashing bars and anyway he'd not got an awful lot of sleep last night, as it was duck mating season and the Duck Man's duck wanted in on the action... so it seemed fairly sensible to follow the vampire Sammy on the basis that she'd already got him a reasonable breakfast.

As Sally started asking questions of the unfortunate youth, Gaspode sniffed around the obliging corpse's pocket areas hopefully, but found nothing much of interest for him. He sat down and scratched enthusiastically at one ear whilst the cop vigorously continued her line of questioning. Females! Nag, nag, nag. Just as well he was the only talking dog in the City - well proper dogs anyway. Though he reluctantly admired Angua's occasional doggie persona he couldn't really count her as canine. Life was such a bitch sometimes...Grrrr! he muttered listlessly. Just to keep his paw in.

"Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.” George Bernard Shaw

The young boy looked as if he could die of fear any moment now, and Sally almost took pity of him. After all, she began to think that she didn't know he was guilty of the murder, she could not be sure, she had not seen the murder take place, maybe the guy was only a poor guy who gave the word "unlucky" meaning. She thought about it for a second, and realized that she had not even looked at the corpse. <Now you stay right here, right next to me, try to run away and things will get dangerous for you, ok?> The boy was so afraid he couldn't have walked if his own life depended on it.<Hi Dog, give me a little space, if you please> she said to Gaspode seeing him not far away from the body, then Sally took a closer look and saw a well-dressed, wanna-look-like-I'm-rich-kind of man, who had nothing at all in his pockets or his hands. "Not even a coin, a paper, nothing" muttered Sally to herself. She turned to the boy, who could have beaten a statue at a stay-still contest. <Did you steal something from him? Is that why you killed him?> Being suspected of murder was nothing compared to being suspected of stealing without a Guild license, at least with the Watch you can always count on a trial, and eventually on a last meal. He started throwing away everything he had on his pockets, yelling <I'm not a thief, I didn't take anything> and Sally watched as pieces of old newspapers, a bitten apple and other unmentionables things started to fall from him. <It appears you are not a thief after all, are you?>he shooked his head many times.<and of course you're not a killer either> he went on shooking his head.<I'm sure you are just a kind soul who wanted to help, right?> she said, but she didn't wait for the answer. <Come with me> and she dragged him on their way to the Watch House.

Rincewind skidded to a halt in front of the library door, while Skylux - unused to sudden stops on polished marble - continued, and then struggled to extract himself from the goo that was plastered across the corridor."What's this?" he said, staring as it ran through his fingers viscously. "Jelly?"Rincewind nodded, opening the library door. "Bit of an accident. The Bursar was hungry, I heard.""Thank gods for that. I was wondering if it was some kind of nasty magical chemical - ""Oook?"Skylux stared up. "An orang-utang? As a librarian?" A banana was brandished unpleasantly at him. He remembered what happened when they were frozen in liquid nitrogen..."Absolutely," he said. "Seems just fine to me. Aha, and the way you've arranged those bookshelves... a very interesting slant."When he was lost for positive words, it has to be noted, he always got away with interesting."It's not meant to be like that," Rincewind murmured, staring at the cases that had been smashed into the floorboards and walls. "What's happened?""...and that smoky smell, like a real libra... oh."A few floorboards had evidently been lifted up, but the only way you could tell this was because they were still intact, albeit sticking out of the empty bookcases. A thin layer of what remained of the books squashed underfoot, and the librarian whimpered.In the center of the damage was a crater, a seemingly impossible thing in a library, but here it was, as conspicuous as a world turtle in the night sky.And in the center of that was a button, totally unscathed. The Bursar climbed out from behind a splintered table, grinning inanely.

"Well done! I rather think it worked""What worked?""Ook""Is that a monk..." The speaker was cut short by the multiple slaps from his more knowledgable comrades. Wizards can be quite fast at times."I say, is what are those staffs doing up ther....has anyone noticed something?" said Ridcully"What? You mean like the library's completely disintegrated? Is that it?" said the newcomer once again demonstrating a gift for sarcasm.Completely ignoring the remark, "Is that a girl up there? Are those staffs surrounding a girl?"I dont belive it! My staff's gone!""OOOK!!""What? You said there's going to be a....."The next sentence was cut short by the sudden flow of light and dark from the circle of staffs. A few moments later the sun came on. A hooded figure gazed down on the assembled wizards.

Smilies are friends, not food. ..............Now You See It, Now You Don't..............Proud Copper Widow

'Well,' said Skylux, unsure how to react. 'Nice to see disaster averted and everything. All in a day's work, I guess. Didn't know you trained girls as wizards.''We, um, don't.' said Rincewind. 'As a general rule.''Um...'

The staffs were descending now. They descended on the button."Oy! Off that thing! It could go off!""OOOOOOOkkk!"The supply of staffs landed with a thunk. With surprising speed, they were pecked up by the wizards, none noticing the apparent lack of damage to what was previously beyond the terms of damage, and more towards how much of it was still solid.Except the Archchanceller.

Outside the Library, the commotion got interrupted by the light going on again. The sun spluttered as if undecided if it should turn on or not and finally remained lit again. The crowd blinked it's eyes in the blazing sunlight, which three members of the watch took as an advantage and sneaked past the Library's door.There were voices a little way off and Cheery was certain she heard the Archcancellor shout at someone. Vimes leaned over to Carrot and whispered something in his ear, before ducking and disappearing between the shelves. Carrot silently mouthed the phrase "stay here" to Cheery and then followed the Commander.Obviously, she'd gotten the order to stay here and guard, which she did. At least until she heard the faint footsteps echoing through the musty air. But it was too late. She'd heard them too late. Now, the footsteps were already right behind her. She cursed under her breath and swung her fists around like a club...